News

Jun 1, 2018

Financing for Ontonagon Biofuels Plant Secured

Synsel Energy, of Elmhurst, IL, announced last week that financing terms have been finalized for the construction of a biofuels plant in Ontonagon at the site of the former Smurfit-Stone paper mill. The state-of-the-art facility, according to the press release, will utilize environmentally responsible technology to produce second-generation synthetic drop-in fuels for transportation uses. The plant is expected to be operational in 2021 and is planned to use the same volume of wood feedstock as the former paper mill. First-generation biofuels are made from the sugars and vegetable oils of arable crops while second-generation biofuels are made from lignocellulosic biomass (biomass from woody crops) and agricultural residues. Drop-in biofuels are produced through a variety of biological and thermochemical processes and are functionally equivalent to petroleum-derived transportation blendstocks.